Synergistic Roles of Curcumin in Sensitising the Cisplatin Effect on a Cancer Stem Cell-Like Population Derived from Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Lines

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a small subpopulation within a tumour. These cells possess stem cell-like properties but also initiate resistance to cytotoxic agents, which contributes to cancer relapse. Natural compounds such as curcumin that contain high amounts of polyphenols can have a chemosensitivity effect that sensitises CSCs to cytotoxic agents such as cisplatin. This study was designed to investigate the efficacy of curcumin as a chemo-sensitiser in CSCs subpopulation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using the lung cancer adenocarcinoma human alveolar basal epithelial cells A549 and H2170. The ability of curcumin to sensitise lung CSCs to cisplatin was determined by evaluating stemness characteristics, including proliferation activity, colony formation, and spheroid formation of cells treated with curcumin alone, cisplatin alone, or the combination of both at 24, 48, and 72 h. The mRNA level of genes involved in stemness was analysed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to evaluate the effect of curcumin on the CSC niche. A combined treatment of A549 subpopulations with curcumin reduced cellular proliferation activity at all time points. Curcumin significantly (p < 0.001) suppressed colonies formation by 50% and shrank the spheroids in CSC subpopulations, indicating inhibition of their self-renewal capability. This effect also was manifested by the down-regulation of SOX2, NANOG, and KLF4. Curcumin also regulated the niche of CSCs by inhibiting chemoresistance proteins, aldehyde dehydrogenase, metastasis, angiogenesis, and proliferation of cancer-related proteins. These results show the potential of using curcumin as a therapeutic approach for targeting CSC subpopulations in non-small cell lung cancer.     

Structural,Optical and Electrical Properties of Cu0.6CoxZn0.4−xFe2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) Soft Ferrites

A series of cobalt-inserted copper zinc ferrites, Cu_0.6Co_xZn_0.4−xFe₂O₄ (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) having cubic spinel structure were prepared by the coprecipitation method. Various characterization techniques, including XRD, FTIR, UV-vis and I–V were used to investigate structural optical and electrical properties, respectively. The lattice constant was observed to be decreased as smaller ionic radii Co²⁺ (0.74 Å) replaced the higher ionic radii Zn²⁺ (0.82 Å). The presence of tetrahedral and octahedral bands was confirmed by FTIR spectra. Optical bandgap energy was determined in the range of 4.44–2.05 eV for x = 0.0 to 0.4 nanoferrites, respectively. DC electrical resistivity was measured and showed an increasing trend (5.42 × 10⁸ to 6.48 × 10⁸ Ω·cm) with the addition of cobalt contents as cobalt is more conductive than zinc. The range of DC electrical resistivity (10⁸ ohm-cm) makes these nanomaterials potential candidates for telecommunication devices.     

Ab initio calculations of the ground and excited states of the ZrN molecule including spin‐orbit effects

The electronic structures with spin‐orbit effects of the zirconium nitride ZrN molecule are investigated by the methods of multireference single and double configuration interaction. The potential energy curves are calculated along with the spectroscopic constants for the lowest‐lying 34 spin‐orbit states Ω in ZrN. A good agreement is displayed by comparing the calculated spectroscopic constants with those available experimentally. The permanent dipole moments are calculated along with the vibrational energies. New results are obtained in this work for 29 spin‐orbit states and their spectroscopic constants calculated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Synthesis and Characterization of the Quaternary Thio­aluminogermanates A(AlS2)(GeS2) (A = Na,K)

The quaternary thioaluminogermanates Na(AlS₂)(GeS₂) ( 1 ) and K(AlS₂)(GeS₂) ( 2 ) crystallize in the tetragonal space group I4/mcm (no. 140) with unit cell parameters a = 7.4274(11) Å, c = 5.8560(12) Å for Na(AlS₂)(GeS₂) and a = 7.8826(2) Å, c = 5.8642(4) Å for K(AlS₂)(GeS₂). The crystal structure comprises of one‐dimensional [(AlS₂)(GeS₂)]^– anionic chains with Al and Ge sharing the tetrahedral site. The alkali metal cations fill the square antiprismatic voids between chains. Both 1 and 2 are semiconductors with bandgap of around 3.6 eV and 3.5 eV, respectively.     

Synthesis,characterisation and mesomorphic behaviours of non-symmetrically substituted 1,2,4- and 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives

Two series of non-symmetrically substituted bent-core mesogens derived from the central 3,5 and 2,5 cores of the 1,2,4- and 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives, respectively, containing ether and ester linkage have been synthesised by several straightforward synthetic procedures, and their mesomorphic behaviour was studied by optical polarising microscopy (OPM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The last five homologues of the 1,2,4-oxadiazole series exhibit a monotropic nematic phase on cooling, while the 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives do not show any liquid crystalline properties but rather a crystal to isotropic transition is observed by OPM. We show that the bent angles of the 1,2,4- and 1,3,4-oxadiazole rings are crucial in observing the liquid crystal (LC) phases formed, and also that the length of the alkyl substituent is observed to have a significant effect on the nature of the LC phases.     

Enhancement of tribological performance of epoxy bulk composites and composite coatings using micro/nano fillers: a review

Epoxies in the form of bulk and coatings have been used throughout the years for a wide spectrum of applications in various industries ranging from aerospace, oil and gas, petrochemical and marine to several others. Their use in tribological applications, those involving a range of contact conditions and where the requirement is exceptionally low wear and friction coefficient, is often limited by the properties of the pristine epoxy matrix such as low load bearing capacity combined with low thermal conductivity values. These properties have been improved by the addition of nano‐fillers, and numerous studies have been carried out in this regard. This paper presents a detailed review of the works carried out in the recent years where addition of nano‐fillers to formulate epoxy‐based composites and coatings has shown a substantial improvement in wear and friction properties thereby enhancing their potential to be used in demanding tribological applications such as solid lubricant in bearings, as wear‐resistant protective coatings in rotating and stationary equipment and for applications in the construction industry such as floorings and airport runway repairs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zero commutativity of nilpotent elements skewed by ring endomorphisms

The reversible property is an important role in noncommutative ring theory. Recently, the study of the reversible ring property on nilpotent elements is established by Abdul-Jabbar et al., introducing the concept of commutativity of nilpotent elements at zero (simply, a CNZ ring) as a generalization of reversible rings. We here study this property skewed by a ring endomorphism α, and such ring is called a right α-skew CNZ ring which is an extension of CNZ rings as well as a generalization of right α-skew reversible rings, and then investigate the structure of right α-skew CNZ rings and their related properties. Consequently, several known results are obtained as corollaries of our results.